COMM 110, CSULB, EXAM 2

perception

process of experiencing the world around you and making sense of it

stages of perception

selection, organization, interpretation, remembering

the selection stage

perceiver selects the stimuli to which he or she will pay attention

the organization stage

perceivers mind organizes the information selected into easily understood clusters and categories

the interpretation stage

perceiver makes sense of the information that has been selected and organized

the remembering stage

perceiver recalls the information according to the way that it was selected, organized, and interpreted

interpersonal perception

process of observing and interpreting behaviors of other people

passive perception

occurs because our senses are in operation

active perception

occurs when we are motivated to pay attention to a certain thing

perceptual bias

tendency to focus heavily on a persons attributes when forming a perception

selective perception

occurs when we direct our attention to a specific thing and ignore everything else about the subject

confirmation bias

look for information to confirm something we already know (ex: journalists cherry picking stats)

salience

the degree to which particular people/aspects of their communication attracts our attention

perceptual organization

the ability to impose organization on sensory data, so as to group sensory primitives arising from a common underlying cause.

punctuation

how we organize information by grouping then dividing into time segments with beginning and ends

superimposing

filling in information that's not supposed to be there based on assumptions

clustering

tendency to use a small set of traits to make inferences about other traits that a person may possess (if a person is smart and wealthy they are most likely snobby)

implicit personality trait

explains how once we learn a few details about someone, we infer other traits that are clustered with the traits we observe

cognitive complexity

describes people who do not categorize others easily or quickly because they have so many categories for a person

making attributions

locus of control

someones behavior is caused by internal attributes of the individual or by external curumstances

internal cause

cause of the behavior is due to the personality or individual

external cause

caused of the behavior is due to the circumstance or situation

stable cause

typical behavior of the person

stability

the cause of someones behavior is a stable characteristic and consistent over time

unstable cause

uncharacteristic behavior of the person and probably caused by the constraints of the particular situation

controllability

extent of control or choice a person has over their behavior

controllable

behavior as a conscious choice

uncontrollable

behavior as a result of factors beyond the person's control; they did not have much-if any-choice

selective recall

egocentric memory, when we remember things we want to remember and forget unpleasant and uncomfortable things

oversimplification

a simplification that goes too far (to the point of misrepresentation)

imposing consistency

people overestimate the consistency and constancy of other's behaviors

the fundamental attribution error

to underestimate the situational causes for negative behavior and instead blame the person

self serving bias

thinking that things go right because of our skills, rather than the help of others or the situational context

impressions

perceptions about others that we maintain and use to interpret their behaviors

cognitive simplicity

where people see everything black and white and make assumptions quickly

attributions

explanations we make about other people's motives for their actions

cycle of perception

interpretation, selection, organization, remember

symbol

a word, or visual device that represents a thing, idea or experience

referent

the thing that symbol represents

thought

mental process, image, experience that gets triggered by the symbol

triangle of meaning

symbol, referent, thought

sapir-whorf hypothesis

states that words create our reality by serving as tools to use to name and label what we experience

linguistic relativity

our language is determining our thoughts and different languages have different experiences of reality

denotative meaning

a level of meaning, the content is the word's literal meaning

connotative meaning

the relationship dimension conveys feelings and includes personal meaning of the verbal or nonverbal message (the way your tone reveals what you really mean behind the denotative meaning)

conversational management

the process of initiating, maintaining and closing a conversation with another person

stage-hogging

not adopting the listening role in a conversation and instead insisting on playing the speaker throughout the conversation

principle of cooperation

suggests that each person in a conversation is striving toward understanding and will cooperate with the other to achieve shared meaning

quantity

just enough information, but not too much detail

quality

honesty or truthfulness

relevance

on topic

clarity

use of familiar terms

principle of dialogue

states that two people are in conversations and they really care about what is happening to one another and emphasizes the presence of each participant

abstract language

words we cannot experience without sense, or words that lack descriptive detail such as heaven

concrete language

words that we can experience with one of our sense, such as cold

overgeneralization

form of exaggeration, in that it exaggerates the degree to which a certain statement is true

halo effect

attributing positive characteristics to someone simply because we like them

horn effect

attributing negative traits to people simply because we do not like them

linguistic relativity

our use of language inevitably defines our perceptions

malapropism

when we use a word that sounds like another word, but has a very different meaning

bypassing

when one word has different meanings for two or more people in the same conversation

euphemism

a polite substitute for less socially acceptable words and terms in a given situation or content (Kenya never gave Apollo fellatio)

jargon

specialized set of words and phrases used within a certain group

leakage cues

nonverbal behaviors that indicate that an individual is lying

dominance cues

nonverbal behaviors that communicate status, position, important, and control

truth bias

the tendency to believe people are telling us the truth

arousal cues

nonverbal behaviors that show feelings of interest and excitement

immediacy cues

nonverbal behaviors that communicate liking and showing feelings of pleasure

kinesics

study of how the body communicates

emblems

gestures that have a culturally understood meaning that can replace a word or phrase (the middle finger)

illustrators

gestures used to add emphasis to the words being spoken

adaptors

body movements we do unconsciously when feeling a certain emotion

regulators

body movements that help control the flow of interaction between people

affect displays

body movements that help communicate your emotional status

oculesics

the study of how the eyes communicate

proxemics

personal distance

haptics

human touch

appearance

how you look

artifacts

anything you possess or display that communicates something about you

vocalics

the tone, rate/speed, pitch, and volume of your words and all non language that comes out of your mouth

computer mediated communication

communication with others through technology

pseudo conflict

can arise from a misunderstanding, parties are led to believe they have incompatible goals

simple conflict

can arise from a difference in how we view our own ideas or goals in comparison with our relational other

ego conflict

can arise when two or more people are placing their personal position above any other consideration

misconception

conflict is preventable

misconception

misunderstandings always cause conflict

misconception

conflict always has a solution

misconception

signs of conflict signal relationship disaster

constructive conflict

strengthens communication, increases closeness through a greater depth of understanding of each other

destructive conflict

weakens communication, increases likelihood of relationship collapse

conflict style

how we approach conflict

assertiveness

occurs when a person is effectively expressing their individual thought and feeling in a manner that is without attitude or anger and considerate of their partners feelings

aggressiveness

characterized by a high concern for themselves and a low concern for others

passiveness/nonassertiveness

a self sacrificing communicative style in which one will put another's needs over their own

attribution theory

when people try to determine why people do what they do. A person seeking to understand why another person did something may attribute one or more causes to that behavior

masculine speech

focuses on competition

feminine speech

focuses on working together

types of space

intimate, public, and social

stages of conflict

accommodation, avoidance, competition, and collaboration